Barriers of Denial
by keikoutou
Summary: AU, Vegetasei. Vegeta is being nagged by his father to find a mate..then he meets Goku in the strangest place. Friendship, or more? Vegeta must decide, without denying his true emotions. Or risk losing the only one who could possibly be his soulmate.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I own no DBZ characters. . .doesn't mean I can't dream! Me want Goku!  
  
A/N: Okay, this fic is just a result of a random spurt of inspiration. . .meaning I don't have much idea of what to do with it. I do have a big big BIG general idea, so don't worry about me not finishing this with just this one chapter! Just letting you know. Which is why the title probably doesn't match, as I don't know well enough what I'm gonna write for this fic to come up with a relevant title. So it'll most likely be changed.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
This chappie's kinda . . .iffish. . .yeah. But I personally think it's a little funny!  
  
~And So They Were~  
  
Vegeta didn't like this. Vegeta didn't like this at all. Not one bit.  
  
'Curse you, father, for your damn stubbornness!' Vegeta mentally yelled, conveniently forgetting that he was as equally headstrong. He snarled viciously at the wall of his sleeping quarters, his raging mind still going over for perhaps the millionth time about what his father had just told him.  
  
"Damn you, damn you, damn you. . ." Vegeta muttered. "I DON'T want a mate right now. . .I can't deal with one with the time I need for training! DAMN YOU!" The prince suddenly screamed, his temper and anger getting the best of him as he fired a massive ki-blast in some random direction.  
  
Unfortunately, that direction happened to be the doorway where another Saiyan was approaching.  
  
Fortunately, that Saiyan happened to be Vegeta's father himself, as any other person would have been instantly obliterated.  
  
Unfortunately, The Saiyan King was not completely invincible against his son's attacks when unguarded.  
  
So therefore, we resulted in a very charred, black, seething king and a prince who was slightly embarrassed at his lack of self-control.  
  
"VEGETA!" Came the expected roar.  
  
"Hn. Go away, father."  
  
"What the hell was that for?!"  
  
Vegeta sniffed disdainfully. "Well, you walked into it, so it was your fault."  
  
"You impertinent little. . ."  
  
Vegeta smirked. ". . .prince? Yes, I am royalty, as you should have noticed the minute I was born." Enjoying the banter with his father, Vegeta was able to calm himself.  
  
"What is it you wanted, father?"  
  
The king eyed his son suspiciously, expecting more tart remarks. When none came, he mentally relaxed, and spoke his purpose for getting ki-blasted - err, that is, coming to Vegeta's room.  
  
"About what I said earlier-"  
  
"Oh, would you look at the time. I think its time for my daily training. Good day, father." Vegeta gave a mock bow of respect and hastily brushed past the king towards the doorway.  
  
"Boy, you might *want* to hear this." The king growled, fast losing his patience with his arrogant son. Ignoring the fact that that arrogance came from himself.  
  
Vegeta raised a thick eyebrow, the slight turning of his head the only inclination he was listening.  
  
The king continued, "What I said earlier, I take back some. I still desire you to take on a mate soon, however I shall extend the deadline to three months instead of one, as I had forgotten to include the time for. . .bonding." The king smirked at the slight jolt that came from the prince at the last word.  
  
"And no, boy, I mean mental bonding. Physical bonding you may do *after* the ceremony, and only *after*. So you had better hurry if you wish to. . .satisfy yourself. That is all." The king regally swaggered away, purposefully sweeping his royal cloak into his son's face. Once away from hearing distance, the king dropped his cool demeanor and snickered at the expression that was on his son's face. 'Oh ho, that was priceless!'  
  
Back to Vegeta, who was once again fuming. 'The nerve of him, ridiculing me like that!' "Satisfying myself. . .humph!" Vegeta muttered.  
  
He then decided the only way to work off his irritation was to train.  
  
And train he did.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hm, this doesn't look too bad. Can't be too old, I hope." A voice echoed out from the shadows of the old building. Crunching sounds were heard, the sound magnified by echoes of the empty building.  
  
"Yum!" A loud belch was heard. "Now to train!" The mysterious person chirped, talking to no in particular.  
  
And train he did.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After several hours of strenuous training, Vegeta decided to take a break. After a small breather, the prince blasted off and flew randomly, allowing the gently blowing wind cool him off. Spotting a small stream nearby, he promptly dropped to quench his thirst with the crystal clear water. Gulping it down, Vegeta wiped his mouth and looked around, just for the sake of seeing where he was.  
  
'Eh?' Vegeta quirked an eyebrow (A/N: Hm, he does that a lot. ^_^) as he spotted a crumbling building in the distance. 'I flew that far?' He thought. Shading his brow from the sun, Vegeta observed the old - was it a fotress?- that was about a kilometer away with his keen, Saiyan eyesight.  
  
'Wow, I did fly pretty far. Looks like it's the old palace of some past king or some other.' Vaguely remembering the boring lessons he had gone through as a young princeling, Vegeta shrugged and decided to humor his sense of adventure.  
  
And so he did.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hyaah! Hyaaaah!" The voice continued to echo about , obvious evidence of the person training himself. From under black spiky locks of hair, ebony eyes glared at the imaginary enemy, brutal assaults immediately dealt to the invisible offender.  
  
Wiping the sweat off his brow, the young man panted from slight exhaustion. Looking around at the old surroundings, he broke into a grin.  
  
'I've been cooped up in here for so long! Guess its safe to replenish my food supply, and maybe get some fresh air. No one ever comes here anyway.'  
  
"Yeah! I wanna go outside!" He whooped.  
  
And so he did.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vegeta, now pretty close to the old palace, paused and cocked his head. 'Did I just hear something?' Vegeta shook his head, dismissing it as his imagination. After all, who would live here? Not even wild animals seemed to hang around this odd place. Which was odd, considering that the palace was in the middle of a lush, green forest. Shrugging, Vegeta pushed this strange occurrence to the back of his mind.  
  
Approaching the door, Vegeta placed a hand on the vine covered handle. . .  
  
. . .and was immediately bowled over as the door burst open.  
  
Black eyes met black eyes. Ebony met coal. Cheerful met cold. Shining met. . .and so on. (A/N: I wonder how many descriptions I could come up with about eyes. . .don't worry, I won't experiment here! *hastily assures readers who are backing away from fic*)  
  
And so they met.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cliffy-ish. . .but not really. Please don't go away. . .I promise this'll be more exciting!!! 


	2. chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ. All I own is my computer, my poor writing skills, and the pointless dream that I'll someday be the inheritess (is that a word?) to Akira Toriyama.  
  
Thank you for the reviews!  
  
Leiko: Thank you! Good to know my fic's good enough for someone to stick by it. And for the eye descriptions, I gave up cuz I came up with too many.  
  
Kat: I certainly will!  
  
KrysSaiyan: Not yaoi, but shounen ai. If you don't know the difference, Yaoi is. . .ahem, the more extreme while shounen ai is just love.  
  
minna-sama no megami: *dances along* yaay, I'm glad you like it!  
  
KATE: don't worry, this isn't one-shot! More chapters to come.  
  
Moonprincess202: Thankies very much!  
  
Me: Don't worry, I'll get everything down. The first chapter was only what it was; the first chapter. Can't put everything in once chappie! Thnx 4 ur patience.  
  
Laura: Awww *patpat* don't be mad. Sorry if it took long!  
  
And now, I present to you! Chapter two!!  
  
Chapter two  
  
A few minutes passed. Overhead, a bird flew over the scenery, chirping happily. It cocked its head down to the two figures below, one lying on his back, the other right on top. (A/N: heh heh) If the bird could have shrugged, it would have done so. What a strange sight it was, but it certainly was of no concern to the bird brained creature. (A/N: Hahaa, bird brained, get it??! Bird brained? ....... *sulks* ok, never mind.)  
  
Vegeta stared, for the moment forgetting what an undignified position he was in. Undignified indeed. Then, the damn broke.  
  
"GET OFF ME, DAMMIT!!!"  
  
The other man scrambled to get away, helped in his retreat by Vegeta's sudden burst of angry ki. Dark eyes were still wide in shock as the young man backed away.  
  
Dusting himself off royally, Vegeta turned to the other with his nose slightly tilted in a haughty gesture. He observed the other with a hawk eye. Orange gi, very very dirty and seemed like it had gone through a hailstorm, blue undershirt, bare feet, and black spikes of hair that jutted out in all directions.  
  
"And who the hell are you?! How dare you barge into me like that! Have some dignity!" Vegeta's tail, had it not been tightly wrapped around his waist in the customary position for a Saiyan adult, would have been thrashing vigorously by now.  
  
Indignation crossed the other's face. "Excuse me? How could I have seen you, I was opening the door!"  
  
The arrogant prince nearly gaped. The nerve of him! Some wayward Saiyan. . .Vegeta confirmed his race, noting the furry brown tail lashing in an indignant manner behind the man's back (which Vegeta found odd as an adult Saiyan should never expose such a vulnerable appendage). . .knocked his prince over, and had the balls to deny it! Much less apologize! "You. . .what's your name, boy?!" Vegeta barked.  
  
The indignant expression on the other's face was immediately replaced by worry and slight fear. He jolted up as if remembering something. "A-ah!" Without further ado, the stranger blasted away, nearly blowing Vegeta several meters back.  
  
Gritting his teeth, the now deserted prince gave chase. No one got away with disrespecting *him*!  
  
'Damn, he's fast.' Vegeta couldn't help but notice. The all too familiar smirk made its way to his face. 'But not as fast as me!'  
  
With a sudden spurt of ki, the prince was soon in grabbing distance of the stranger's feet. Reaching out, a small ki blast could be seen forming at the gloved palm of Vegeta's hand.  
  
Looking back, the other man suddenly shouted, "Kaoi KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!" He was immediately engulfed in a burst of red flame, and zoomed away with significantly increased speed.  
  
'What?! What the hell was that?! He nearly rocketed his power and speed tenfold with that. . .yell!' Growling, Vegeta wondered in the back of his mind exactly why he was bothering to chase a complete stranger across a deserted area. He then concluded, still in the back of his mind, that he was curious as to why someone would be way out here. Yeah, that was it.  
  
Raising his hand once more, Vegeta powered up a second ki blast, but much bigger. Taking aim, he fired with the smirk back on his face. . .  
  
. . .which was immediately wiped off as he watched his attack eluded effortlessly.  
  
'How. . .?!?'  
  
"So you wanna play it rough, huh?" The irate prince muttered. "Have it your way! GALLIC GUN!"  
  
BOOM.  
  
'Now that definitely got him.' Sure enough, the orangely clad fellow was floating down to the ground, pretty as you please. Vegeta couldn't tell if he was too injured to keep flying, or he was just descending on his own. Shrugging, the prince followed suit to land a few feet behind the other. Arms crossed, trademark scowl on his face, Vegeta was ready to kick some serious butt.  
  
Or, he could just ask the questions and avoid the violence. Very unVegeta like, but the prince wanted answers. Not blood. For now.  
  
Eyeing the other, whose back was facing him and was kneeling on the ground, Vegeta walked forward and mercilessly yanked him up by the hair.  
  
"Yow!" Calloused hands immediately enveloped the prince's. The minute they touched, a sudden jolt seemed to zap through them both. . .neither one moved for a few full seconds.  
  
Their thoughts were in unison. 'What was *that*?'  
  
Shaking the feeling off, Vegeta whirled the other around. He inwardly growled as he looked *up* at the other. . .damn, it really sucked being short. . .and a short prince at that.  
  
"You never answered my question, fool." Vegeta growled dangerously.  
  
Gulping, the other man took a step back. He scratched the back of his head in an odd gesture, obviously trying to think of a satisfying response.  
  
Vegeta quirked an eyebrow as the other suddenly smiled brightly like one without a care in the world. "Heh. . .sorry 'bout that. I'm Ka- ah, I mean Goku! Yeah, Goku! Nice to meet you! What's your name?" The man now known as Goku outstretched his hand for a handshake as a friendly gesture of greetings.  
  
"Don't fool with me, *Goku*!" Vegeta spat the name out like it was a curse. "You know who I am! And what kind of Saiyan name is Goku? Tell me your real name!"  
  
Goku frowned, withdrawing his hand. "But I don't know who you are!"  
  
And the hand went back to scratching the back of his neck. "And my name *is* G-Goku!" He added. The weak protest gave it away. Vegeta noted what a horrible liar he was.  
  
Vegeta glared at him suspiciously. He seemed like the honest type. . .he definitely couldn't lie to save his life. . .which was strange, as it was rare to find such a quality in a Saiyan, unless they were children. Then again, he acted so much like a child. Yet. . .how could he not know his own prince? And why would he wish to hide his true identity?  
  
'Hmm. This should be interesting. Two can play at this game.' Smirking, Vegeta spoke. "My name is. . . Trunks." The prince said tonelessly, using the name his father wished to give to his future grandson. In other words, Vegeta's own son. The prince inwardly grimaced. . .ick. *So* unsaiyanly.  
  
"Well, then. Good to meet you Trunks!" Goku held his hand out, smiling like a fool.  
  
Vegeta eyed the outstretched hand suspiciously. Was he going to attack? Launch a ki blast? What was this strange gesture?  
  
Seeing the tension in the other at the simple action, Goku withdrew his hand in confusion. "Ano. . .I was only trying to greet you, Trunks-kun."  
  
Oho, so it was -kun all of a sudden, eh? "Hn. So what the hell are you doing in this old place?"  
  
Goku looked slightly shocked.  
  
Curious, the prince inquired, "What is it?"  
  
"You. . .cursed!"  
  
Amusement riddled the prince's usual scowl. "Yes, I believe I did. Now, mind answering my question?"  
  
"But I don't have to tell you anything!" Goku said defensively.  
  
Vegeta growled at this sudden change in his attitude. First, he was all friendly buddy buddy complaining about coarse language, now he was so indignant and defensive and so damn secretive. Why was he bothering anyway? This was just some outcast Saiyan who probably just lived out here to avoid shaming himself in public. Besides, this was wasting his time, and the prince never wasted a minute if it could be filled to train.  
  
"Bah. I have no reason to be here." Vegeta muttered. And promptly blasted off without so much as a goodbye. Of course, he hardly knew Goku, so it didn't really matter.  
  
As he watched the stranger fly away, Goku mused on what he should do. Someone found out where he lived; that was unsafe. And he could be someone important; he might even report this to the king! But why report something as small as finding some outcast Saiyan living alone? No, he was probably safe from the Royals, but not from that one stranger. Perhaps he should find another place to dwell. But his promise. . .  
  
*flashback*  
  
An unidentified, yet familiar voice spoke harshly but without malice. "While here, avoid contact with anyone. If you do meet someone, go by Goku and never reveal my or your true name. You must stay here, Kakarott. Promise me."  
  
A small, frightened voice of a young Goku/Kakarott responded softly. "I promise."  
  
*End flashback*  
  
'Maybe, if that guy comes back, I can convince him I'm not worth his time. I probably won't have to, he seemed to think that as he left.'  
  
And yet, for some odd reason, Goku didn't *want* to never see the other Saiyan again. It had been so long. . .so long since he had true company. And meeting someone else, talking to someone other than himself, awoke his inner need to socialize. To be with someone else. A sudden feeling of loneliness loomed gloomily over the normally cheerful young man.  
  
And that odd moment. . .when their hands had touched. What was that odd feeling?  
  
'Maybe he'll come back. And I'll tell him to go away.' But deep in his mind, Goku knew he would do no such thing. Despite that distant promise he had made, to stay, to be alone- although, Goku figured that whoever made him promise hadn't meant him to be *lonely*- it wasn't fair to live his life simply because of some gut feeling or memory he could hardly remember.  
  
As Goku hunted for food, the reason in the first place he came out for fresh air, he could not get out of his mind the image of the man who called himself Trunks. Goku wasn't a fool; he too, could tell the other was lying about his identity. But Trunks he would be, and it was only fair since Goku wasn't revealing who he was either. And he couldn't wait to meet him again. *If* he came again.  
  
Scavenging for anything edible, the young Saiyan subconsciously whispered to himself. "Come back. Please."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Not too exciting, but I promise it'll get more interesting soon. Review please, tell me what you think! 


	3. chapter 3

Okay, here's chapter 3! Oh, wait, I forgot a couple things...  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or its characters.  
  
Monkie: Ehh..heh, lotsa stuff is wrong with me. But thanks for waiting oh so patiently and here is chappie three!  
  
Kate: well, here it is!  
  
Dreamer: you'll hafta find out about that!  
  
KrysSaiyan: heh, srri bout the chapter lengths but yea..oh well.  
  
Note: Um, this is actually really short but I just wanted to get it out anyway.  
  
NOW on to chapter three!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Boy!"  
  
Vegeta growled low in his throat. When would his father's pestering stop?! His constant badgering was grinding on his nerves. He could at least have the decency to bug him about mating AFTER training.  
  
Halting his ki blasts, although the prince would have rather preferred to divert the attacks to the king instead, Vegeta turned to face his father with a deeper scowl than usual.  
  
"I have three months, do not bother me." The prince said tonelessly, not waiting for his father to speak his purpose of interrupting.  
  
"I see you know my wishes well. But so far, I haven't seen you make a single attempt to socialize. You must begin bonding, Vegeta! You have to find the right person soon!"  
  
"I think I know that, dear old dad." Vegeta said mockingly. "As you've only pointed it out to me only a couple hundred times. But the more pressure you put on me, the less I will be inclined to follow your wishes."  
  
"And yet, if I do not remind you, you will forget in less than a day what I want from you because I know you do not take this seriously."  
  
Vegeta smirked. "Is that so? Actually, it just so happens I have been associating with someone. You cannot observe me 24/7, therefore you probably haven't seen me with this special somebody. Can you not be satisfied with that for now?" Of course, Goku was definitely NOT potential mate for the prince, and Vegeta had only met him for one day, but the king didn't have to know that. Anything to get him off Vegeta's back. Although, Vegeta wondered in the back of his mind exactly why it was Goku who he thought of to use as an excuse. After all, there were plenty of sparring partners he could have mentioned.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"No one of your concern, because he is barely enough for my tolerance."  
  
The king smirked, obviously misinterpreting Vegeta's simple description. "Very well, then. Carry on."  
  
Without further ado, the king swept his cloak in such an exaggerated manner that made Vegeta want to rip the royal cloth into pieces. Fueled by his anger that his father would think *Goku* could possibly be anything more than a fellow Saiyan.  
  
Opening his mouth to maybe shoot a comeback to his father, Vegeta suddenly stopped as he heard something.  
  
'Come back.'  
  
Whirling around, Vegeta scanned the area for anyone hiding. But no one was there.  
  
'Please.'  
  
"What the hell?" Vegeta shouted angrily. It was odd. . .now that he thought about it, the words weren't really. . .sound. They were more like thoughts. Thoughts invading his mind, or something. Sure as hell, Vegeta definitely knew they weren't produced by his own mind. But the only telepathic communications he knew of was between close family members and. . .mates.  
  
"Am I going insane?" Vegeta muttered to himself. Since when did he have a mental communicating capability? Certainly not with his father. But it was strange. . .these, invading thoughts, or whatever they were, didn't really make him angry. Or weirded out. They were almost comforting. . .it felt right to have those voices in his head. Immediately, an image of Goku flashed through his mind.  
  
"What the hell?" Vegeta repeated, but in a whisper this time. 'Why would I think of *that* imbecile?'  
  
Inwardly shrugging, Vegeta decided to humor himself. Hey, if you were going crazy, you might as well go along with it.  
  
"I will." He said aloud, feeling slightly foolish.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Goku blew out a sigh, feeling gloomy. He didn't know why, but today just didn't seem like his day. Sure, it was sunny and all, but. . .  
  
'I should be happy. I should be joyful. I mean, I caught a kupste today!' It was true. He had finally found some meat in the forest. More and more animals were leaving his area, leaving less meat for him to hunt. Goku couldn't remember the last time he at fresh meat.  
  
Carrying the deer-like creature (A/N: Even though this takes place on Vegeta-sei, I'm using earth comparisons so you can get a more detailed visual of the Vegeta-sei animals I made up) on his broad shoulders, Goku tried to avert his gloom by distracting himself with pointless thoughts.  
  
'Kupstes are stupid. . .I could get a lot of them if there were more. The sky is blue. The grass is green. Those clouds look like people kissing. Trunks! Eh?' Goku stopped for a moment in self-confusion. Why would he think of that stranger from today while thinking of people kissing? Weird. . .  
  
'I will.'  
  
Goku yelped, nearly dropping his kill as the words seemed to ring in his head. Slightly frightened, Goku looked around instinctively, even though he knew he would find no one. But what was that?  
  
Reaching the entrance to his home, his old rickety crumbling home, Goku concluded it must be his exhaustion from training that he was hearing voices in his head. Funny, though. . .he wasn't feeling the least bit fatigued. . .  
  
Shrugging, Goku proceeded to prepare his meal. 


End file.
